CLA-2-48:OT:RR:NC:2:234

Mr. Aaron Cullen
Barthco International, Division of OHL
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, RI 02895

RE: The tariff classification of gift wrapping paper from China

Dear Mr. Cullen:

In your letter dated July 1, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, CVS Caremark/CVS Pharmacy.

The ruling was requested on Item Number 859601, Christmas Wrapping Paper. You submitted four samples of the gift wrapping paper. The representative samples were sent and analyzed by the New York Customs Laboratory. The submitted sample has been destroyed in the process. We regret that the timeliness of our reply has been adversely affected by delays in the analysis of the submitted sample by our laboratory.

The merchandise in question is gift wrapping paper that will be sold in rolls. Item Number 859601 consists of four repetitive, design-printed patterns which include “Snowmen”, “Snowflakes”, “Ornaments” and “Stars”. You state in your letter that the four styles of design-printed paper weigh 150 g/m2 or less, have a width of 76 cm and are not bleached uniformly throughout the mass. You also indicate that more than 95 percent by weight of the total fiber content consists of wood fibers obtained by a chemical process.

The New York Customs Laboratory has determined that three of the design-printed patterns (“Snowmen”, “Snowflake” and “Ornaments”) contain wood pulp fibers and are coated with an organic (plastic type) material. The fourth pattern (“Stars”) contains wood pulp fibers and is coated with an inorganic (clay) material. The applicable subheading for the “Star” gift wrapping paper will be 4810.99.1010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Paper or paperboard, coated on one or both sides with kaolin (China clay) or other inorganic substances, with or without a binder, and with no other coating, whether or not surface-colored, surface-decorated or printed, in rolls or rectangular (including square) sheets, or any size…:Other: In strips or rolls of a width exceeding 15 cm or in rectangular (including square) sheets with one side exceeding 36 cm and the other side exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state: Gift Wrap Paper”. The rate of duty will be Free.

The applicable subheading for the “Snowmen”, “Snowflake” and “Ornaments” gift wrapping papers will be 4811.90.8020, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding and webs of cellulose fibers, coated, impregnated, covered, surface-colored, surface-decorated or printed, in rolls or rectangular (including square) sheets, of any size, other than goods of the kind described in heading 4803, 4809 or 4810: Other paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding and webs of cellulose fibers: In strips or rolls of a width exceeding 15 cm or in rectangular (including square) sheets with one side exceeding 36 cm and the other side exceeding 15 cm in the unfolded state: Other: Other: Other: Weighing over 30 gm/m2: Gift Wrap”. The rate of duty will be Free.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Albert Gamble at (646) 733-3037.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division